Conference report


UIC’s decision to hold HS congress in US vindicated


There was much relief among the American delegates and organisers of the UIC’s eighth world congress on high- speed rail in Philadelphia last month following the close decision the week before by the Californian Senate to go ahead with the construction of the first high-speed rail line in the United States, reports David Briginshaw.


HE decision by the International Union of Railways (UIC) to stage its world congress on high-speed rail in the United States for the first time paid off, with delegates convening in Philadelphia just days after the Californian Senate narrowly voted in favour of building the country’s first high-speed railway on July 6 (p4). The event was held on July 11-13 in association with Apta, the American Public Transportation Association.


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California’s decision was the cue for US transportation secretary Mr Ray LaHood to give a rousing speech to the 1000 delegates: “High-speed rail has come to the United States. On July 6, California took the historic step to build the country’s first high-speed line. This is an historic step not just for California but the whole country. What we are leaving to the next generation is the next generation of transportation: high-speed rail. “We cannot afford to set high-speed rail aside as something for the future. High-speed rail is critical for our future,” LaHood said. Referring to major transport successes in the past, such as the trans-continental railway and inter-state highway network, LaHood said: “we have done it before and we can do it again. Abraham Lincoln would be smiling down on us today with what we are doing. We will not be dissuaded by the critics, naysayers, and those people who don’t have a solution of how to get people out of their cars and onto the trains.” LaHood also pointed out that there are currently 153


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“We cannot afford to set high-speed rail aside as something for the future. High-speed rail is critical for our future.” Ray LaHood


projects underway in the United States designed to increase line speeds for inter-city passenger trains. Amtrak recently published an ambitious $US 151bn plan to develop the North East Corridor between now and 2040. The project is divided into two overlapping phases, starting with upgrading the existing railway up to 2025 to achieve a maximum speed of 257km/h.


The second phase up to 2040 would involve constructing new tracks designed for 354km/h operation to achieve 94-minute journey times between Washington DC and New York and from there to Boston. Great play was made at the


congress of high-speed rail’s excellent safety record and its ability to attract passengers. “Around 15 billion people have travelled at 300km/h on lines around the world with no casualties since the first line opened in Japan in 1964,” said Mr Michael Melaniphy, president and CEO of Apta. Mr Satoshi Seino, chairman of JR East, said that there have been zero fatalities on Japan’s Shinkansen network since the Tokaido line opened 48 years ago. “We operate 12 trains per


hour between Tokyo and Osaka today, and the average delay has been just one minute since it opened in 1964,” he told delegates. “Last year, Japan faced difficulties following the Great East earthquake, but there were no casualties among passengers and train crew, and all trains stopped safely. There was also no critical destruction such as collapsed viaducts, bridges or stations. The Tohoku Line reopened 49 days after the earthquake because of our experience of dealing with earthquakes.”


Mr Zhang Jianping, a former director general with China’s Ministry of Railways, said that the Beijing - Shanghai high-speed line, which celebrated its first birthday on July 1, has carried 52 million passengers in its first full year of operation. Zhang says this is more than expected, and despite the decision to operate trains at a maximum speed of 300km/h rather than 380km/h as envisaged prior to the Wenzhou accident last year. According to Zhang, daily fares revenue on the 1318km line is around Yuan 60m ($US 9.4m).


France’s first high-speed line is also a victim of its own


success according to Mr Guillaume Pepy, president of French National Railways (SNCF), who says he wants a second high-speed line to be built between Paris and Lyon to relieve congestion on the existing railway. “Our main problem today is congestion,” Pepy told delegates. “We operate 280 trains a day between Paris and Lyon. We have tried to avoid building a second line by operating double-deck trains, having very long operating hours, and by building new stations, but a new line is now a necessity.”


The new line would


probably serve Orléans and Clermont-Ferrand and have a journey time similar to that provided on the existing line. Pepy suggests the new line could be built using the public-private partnership structure adopted by the French government for TGV Sud-Europe Atlantique. He also stressed that high- speed rail in France is profitable. “The Ebitda of the high-speed network is above 12%, although we have some way to go to achieve our goal of 20%,” he explained. “We pay 100% of operating and maintenance costs and 70% of infrastructure costs with the state paying the rest. Thanks to our excellent yield management system we have a load factor of 83%, which is comparable with the low-cost airlines.”


The UIC’s next high-speed rail congress is to be held in Japan in spring 2015, just after the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Shinkansen. The congress will be hosted by JR East. IRJ


IRJ August 2012


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